Suspension
by Teddy Remus
Summary: How Takagi spent his suspension.


_Damn Ishizawa! How could he say that to Saiko!? I didn't hit him hard enough_. The teachers chose that moment to show up. The shock on their face would have been funny if Takagi hadn't been so mad. He was sitting outside the principle's office right now, and the secretary was eyeing him warily. He felt like pulling out his headphones just to give her something to talk about. As it was he was sitting slumped over, clutching his hands between his knees. Thinking about it now, it had probably been a bad idea to hit Ishizawa in school, with witnesses and teachers down the hall. He should have waited 'til later, but his blood had been pounding, and Saiko and himself had been working _so hard_ on their dream of becoming mangaka. Takakgi hadn't had a proper night's sleep since the first time they had spoken to Hattori. Every moment had been given over to creating stories, and then worrying if they were too novelish or not.

The door beside where he sat creaked open slowly, and the principle stuck his head out. "Takagi Akito?"

"Here, sir." Takagi raised a hand a little wearily. _ Here we go_.

"Come in." Disappearing back into his office, Takagi was left to open the door the rest of the way and make his way in. This wasn't the first time he had been in Mr Hiname's office. The dark wood and lack of lighting were familiar to him, though the other times he had been here had been for good reasons. The principle liked to have one-on-ones with his top students. Takagi thought the man was a bit of a peacock, showing off his tale feathers. The amount of praise he showered on the top students was nauseating. "Take a seat, Takagi." He shuffled through papers for a few moments, but Akito was sure it was just for show, as he didn't seem to be looking for anything.

"Mr Chisuke told me of your… fight with Mr Ishizawa. Explain this to me." _Sigh_. How was he going to explain this? _Without_ mentioning the whole manga thing. That would not earn him any points, and he was _not_ looking forward to another sermon about how he was wasting his talent.

"I just lost my temper."

"Hitting someone once is losing your temper, hitting a defenceless opponent repeatedly is rage."

"I hit twice."

"You would have hit him more if Miss Miyoshi had not held you back."

"Ishizawa ridiculed my friend. Mashiro-kun and I have been working ourselves sick on a project, and Mashiro did an amazing job. Ishizawa draws a few crappy girls and thinks he's better, wants me to team up with him instead. He doesn't understand the dedication needed to get ahead. If it was any one's fault we lost, it was mine." All of this came out in Takagi's usual fast speech, gesticulating wildly with his hands. He was half out of his seat when Mr Hiname waved for him to sit down.

"This project, what is it to do with? I have noticed a fall in your grades lately. This work you and Mashiro are doing wouldn't be impeding on your school work, would it?" He may as well just come right out with it.

"Look, Mashiro and I have dream to be mangaka. We're close to making out first real step, and we've been sacrificing everything to get there; sleep, food, study, friends. We only ever see each other because we're all the time thinking of our next move. Nothing is more important to us." Takagi raised a hand as the principle was about to speak, oblivious to the fact that any other kid would not get away with the gesture. "Before you say school comes first, the results of this mid-term were just a minor lapse. I'll still get into the university I want, and I believe following my dream is more important than perfect grades. It's my choice, the same as it was Mashiro's."

There was silence in the room as the principle digested Takagi's tirade. Takagi leaned his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers, gazing at the older man with determination. To be honest, he didn't much care what punishment he received, so long as it didn't stop him from writing, and he could see no probable way it would come to that. Mr Hiname took a deep breath before he began to speak, leaning over his desk and reaching out his hands to Takagi imploringly.

"Mr Takagi, please. Think about your future. You could go to college anywhere and become a brain surgeon, or chief of medicine, or an astro-physicist. The world is your oyster. Don't throw it away on a child's dream." Takagi clenched his jaw and kept quiet. _It was not a child's dream. It's the greatest dream I want to aspire to. Nothing is better._ He didn't say this out loud, however. A pencil pusher like Mr Hiname would nerver understand putting dreams above the status-quo. Mr Hiname waited for a response, but as each second ticked by he became less and less patient with his former number one student. After several minutes he lost his temper and gave Takagi a week's suspension from school, in the hopes that when he returned he would have come to his senses.

Leaving the office, Takagi smiled and waved at the receptionist as he exited. Taking the long way round, he walked past his home room and snuck a look inside. Tonoko, the girl who he sat beside in class, noticed. He indicated that he wanted to talk to Mashiro, and she passed a note up the line of students. Saiko looked back at him and waved, as the teacher was facing the blackboard. Waiting outside the class room, he heard Mashiro ask if he could use the bathroom. A few moments later he came out.

"Hey, what happened?" They moved down the corridor a little bit so they wouldn't be heard.

"I got suspended for a week."

"What!"

"Shh! Listen, come to my house after school. My mum won't be back 'til late. Here's the address." He handed him a piece of paper. "See ya!" He waved and moved off down the hall, leaving Saiko feeling a little bit stunned.

**A/N:** Another chapter or two on what Takagi does during his suspension, dealing with his mum, etc. Next up and going to write a ficlet on Iwase's crush on Takagi and why she starts crying in chapter 11.


End file.
